Keep Holding On (CMIYC Sequel)

Heh-heh-heh. This chappy makes me happy, just because I think it's the best I've been able to write in a while. I'M BACK, BABES.
P.S. Sorry for my lame twist on A Trophy Father's Trophy Son song title for this chapter, I'm just so in love with SWS.
xoxo
Aly
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Chapter 5

"How are you really doing, Rebecca?" Were the first words straight out of Bryan's mouth as soon as Chase left the room to take a shower. When the only answer I gave him was a gawking stare, he added, "I really did come here to see how you were, I promise it wasn't to ruin your evening, though it just happened to be a plus to get Chase all riled up."

Typical. The only thing I found off was his concerned tone of voice. It made me wonder just how much he knew about Chase and I's rocky relationship. All I knew was that even if Chase did consult his best friend, he'd never tell me and I'd never know just how much information he opened up; how diluted Bryan's point of view was. I figured I might as well ask. "How much has Chase been telling you?"

Bryan's saddened smile spoke for itself, and he fell serious all of a sudden. "How much do you think?"

That was certainly one helluva shocker. Assuming he knew just about the entire synopsis, I allowed myself a heaving sigh of oxygen through my lungs, polluting the air with remorse. "That saves me the job of telling you."

Sliding closer to me on the couch, our legs touching, he repeated his question in persistency. "How are you, Becca?"

With upturned eyes, I said confidently, "Let's just say, if you had asked me this morning, I would've given you a completely different answer."

Curiously, he leaned closer, whispering in hushed tones. "I'd love to hear all about the dirty details."

"Bryan, you haven't changed a bit."

"I've been the same way, and will stay the same way until the day my heart stops beating," He lightly pounded on his chest with a curled fist, as if to accentuate his statement. "But you're a different story."

"Oh, am I now?" That surely made my head spin. I still couldn't fathom the idea that I was in fact changing. For the better, yes, consciously, yes, but change was still change whether it be to better myself or not. The worst part was, I couldn't decide whether I liked the way I was changing or the way Chase and I had changed over the course of only a year. My entire life had matriculated onto the next stage and I was stuck somewhere in the past. Things were better than.

So, was change really a good thing?

"That's right. While I'm out getting wasted, you'll be at home."

"Who says that's where I'll be?"

"That's where you're headed."

How perceptive of him. "Question is for the time being," Bryan said, resting his hand on my kneecap, "Are you okay with that? If you say yes, than that's good enough for me. If you say no, than you will be eternally unhappy."

"Why?"

"You'll eventually grow bored of your life, you'll look for cheap ways to get your thrills back, but then you'll find out even those aren't enough anymore."

"Then what?"

"Then," Bryan paused to catch a glimpse of my face, never letting our eye contact wander. "You stop living and you start to just exist, not really alive, not really dead. And what's the fun in that?"

"Do you speak from experience, fortune cookie?" I had to ask.

Bryan refused to answer me, the devious twinkle in his eye dimming; staid. “Would you be willing to take advice from a 24 year old man like me?”

“As long as it’s good advice.”

He lounged back on the couch to kick up his feet, staring pensively at the tips of his street sneakers, tracing up and down the seams in heavy concentration. “There was a time when I had a girl of my own, when I was 17 years old. Her name’s Annie; she was beautiful, but not in the traditional type of way. She didn’t have the prettiest face, or the best body, or the smartest mind. She was just beautiful in the way she was, you know? I can’t explain it, even now.”

I watched him as he spoke, down to the movement of his lips.

He laughed in a broken sort of way, brows twitching as memories seemed to play out in front of him, ones I couldn’t see. It fascinated me. “Where’s she now?”